The Brothers Drake & The Brotherhood
by Haunted Leopard
Summary: After Avery's treasure, Nathan and Elena realized that the married life between the two of them wasn't going to work out. So after parting ways, Nathan teams up with Sam and the brothers are off on another adventure... Only to enter the world of Assassins and Templars. Non-compliant with ending of Uncharted 4
1. A New Adventure

Nathan Drake, infamous treasure hunter or a two-bit thief, depending on who you ask, was currently sitting in a chair in the apartment he shared with his brother, Samuel Drake. A month prior, he had officially divorced his now ex-wife Elena Fisher. As much as he loved Elena, he knew it was for the best. After the entire debacle involving Avery's treasure, Nathan and Elena had realized that as long as the two of them were married, neither person would be completely happy. They knew that a "normal" life would not help their relationship but they had tried. Elena bought Jameson Marine Incorporated in hopes that perhaps this way, they could get the thrill of the adventures of old. It had seemed to work but Nathan was getting too restless. Seeing that this would cause a strain, Nathan talked to Elena about it and the two decided that despite their efforts to keep their marriage afloat, there was no going back. While they still loved each other, they simply needed some time apart to sort out their feelings and priorities.

Nathan had IMMEDIATELY thrown himself back into the world of treasure hunting so he wouldn't drown in his feelings. He worked with Sam, his surrogate father Victor Sullivan and occasionally his partner of old, Chloe Frazer. The hunts were usually small little things where he would actually walk away with something. He and Sam were currently searching for something big. Something to fill their desire of adventure just like Avery's treasure. Scrolling through his phone, Nate didn't notice his brother coming into the living room.

"Nathan!" Sam says, his voice excited. After a moment of his younger brother not responding, Sam gets closer. "Earth to Nathan!"

"Huh?" Nate says, suddenly snapping out his zone of concentration. Sam chuckles. "Oh, hey Sam. You look excited."

"That's cause I am! I think I found our next big adventure!" Sam grins. Nate perks up hearing this.

"Oh? What is it?" Nate asks, his attention completely on Sam now.

"Crocea Mors!" Sam smirks.

"Wait, you mean the sword that Julius Caesar used that killed anyone in one hit?" the younger Drake asks, disbelief in his voice.

"The one and only! It ain't no ancient city buuuut it's an ancient ass sword that people would love to get their hands on."

"But that was just a myth, wasn't it? What makes you so certain that the sword exists?"

"Well, I did some digging on the internet. Turns out Prince Nennius of Britain was not only real, but the last person to officially have Crocea Mors."

"Officially have it? And do you know that he had it to begin with?"

"Well, in the legends, Julius first struck his helmet and then went to strike him again, only for Crocea Mors to get stuck in Nennius's shield. Nennius uses Crocea Mors and dies 15 days later. The legend says he was buried with it, but I don't think for very long."

"Let me guess... People found where Prince Nennius was buried and there was a sword with his body but it was not Crocea Mors?"

"Bingo! The sword was of the Roman variety but it was not golden in any way, shape or form."

"Why does that matter?" Nathan asks, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. Sam motions for Nathan to follow him into the little study they had for mapping crazy shit out. Following his older brother, Nathan enters the study and over to the little area Sam had dedicated to Crocea Mors.

"Because, I found records of this sword being found throughout history - even before Caesar. The exact, same sword. Not replicas, but the real thing. The weight, the balance, the design, material - everything is the same," Sam explains. "Now, after Prince Nennius and Julius Caesar, Crocea Mors doesn't pop up very often... It appears like two more times, which is why when they found Prince Nennius's body, Crocea Mors was not with. Which means it's out there, and we're gonna find it." He points to each painting and recording of Crocea Mors that he had. Nathan looks over everything and was in awe at the research Sam was able to dig up.

"Well shit, I guess we're going to London, aren't we?" Nathan says looking up. Sam had a smug smirk on his lips.

"Yes, yes we are," Sam says. The brothers Drake share a grin and head off to their respective room to get their bags packed with everything they would need. Also, they needed to fill Sully in on the details as the old man would want to know what they're up to and if there was a way he could help the brothers... And maybe keep an eye on the two. The brothers always do have the knack of getting themselves into trouble in whatever adventure they went on.


	2. A Heist in London

The brothers Drake walk up the steps of the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London, England. There was a rather large crowd in and out of the museum, presumably due to the discovery of Prince Nennius's body and the supposed Crocea Mors. Fortunately, they blended right on in with the crowd and no one would be too suspicious of them when they got close to Prince Nennius's body and stayed there for longer than normal. However, the brothers take their time walking through the museum as they did not want to bring attention to themselves by pushing through to get to Prince Nennius's corpse. Even though they took their time getting to Prince Nennius's corpse, it wasn't for naught. The rest of the exhibits were actually pretty interesting to look at. Eventually, they get to the display of Prince Nennius.

"Not surprised it's mostly bones and tattered clothes," Sam comments when he gets a good look.

"Hey Sam, look at the shield. There's something in the hole that Crocea Mors made," Nathan says quietly. He didn't want anyone else to hear in case there were others looking for the real Crocea Mors like they were. Sam peers closer.

"Oh yeah, it looks like a scroll. Odd..." Sam says. A moment of silence passes between the brothers before they look at each other. They walk a little ways away from the display.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Nathan asks.

"We pullin' a heist tonight?" Sam asks, grinning a bit. Nathan nods.

"Yeah. Well, maybe tomorrow night. We need to see the patrol of the security guards tonight. Also, we need to find a way in AND get the key to open the display, take the scroll and put everything back to normal," Nathan says.

"Well, I think if we stay long enough, we can catch the loops and see how long a guard stays in this area as well as how much time we have before a new one enters," Sam points out.

"Alright. That's one thing. But there's still two issues - the key and getting in," Nathan says.

"Easy - there's a vent above us. We do it like we did in the Rossi Estate. Just... No gun fight hopefully. Don't wanna kill these innocent security guards," Sam says. Nate snorted hearing Sam's solution.

"Typical thief entrance. Though I suppose the key would be in the security office... Wouldn't it?" Nate thinks out.

"Most likely little brother. So I think we can pull the heist off tonight. Time to watch the security," Sam says. With a nod, the two bothers split to watch the various security guard loops while not standing out like a sore thumb to the security guards. However, there was a figure in the crowd that had been watching the brothers Drake and overheard their conversation. The figure leaves before they could be spotted and hurries outside to report to their higher ups what they had just discovered. They wouldn't be stopping the Drakes. They would not interfere as the Drakes needed to prove themselves in their little heist. That was an order given by the figure's higher up.

 **Later That Night...**

Nathan and Samuel were in all black, both wearing black gloves as they didn't want to leave fingerprints once they touched the glass. Or anywhere for that matter. Less evidence they left behind, the better. Sam even pulls on a black beanie and Nathan just looks at his brother.

"You might as well put on the little face mask at this point with the get up you got going. Maybe even even switch your shirt to a black and white striped one," Nathan comments. Sam rolls his eyes.

"Don't particularly feel like leaving hairs all over. I never understood the striped shirt. All black, the gloves and the beanie? Definitely," Sam says.

"And the face mask?"

"Well, I would imagine that would help kept your face from getting identified."

"Not with how tiny the stereotypical ones are."

"Touché," Sam concedes. Nathan then walks over to Sam, pulling out the map they had made of the vents in the museum.

"Alright, just to go over the plan one more time. We enter through this vent here. You go to the security room to snag the keys and disable the camera for the time being. I'll wait near the display case for you to return, keeping an eye out on the guards. Once we're in the clear, we have 15 minutes to drop down, unlock the case, carefully remove the shield, remove the scroll, put the shield back in, lock the case and get back into the air vent. I'll leave with the scroll while you return the key and put the cameras back on," Nathan says.

"Alright little brother, let's get us that scroll, shall we?" Sam smirks. With a nod and putting the map into his pocket, Nathan follows Sam over to the air vent they were using. Nathan presses his back against the wall and boosts Sam up. Sam then opens the vent, hops inside and reaches an arm down to Nathan. With the help of Sam, Nathan gets into the air vents and the brothers split ways for the time being, Sam going to the security room and Nathan to the display room with Prince Nennius.

Sam makes his way through the air vents, making sure to be as quiet as he could be, not wanting to attract the guards' attention. He arrives at the grate that would lead him into the security room and he looks over. Fortunately, there was no guard in the room and he opens the grate. He drops in and looks around. The older Drake spots a ring of keys on a rack and snags them, putting them into his pocket.

"They won't even know you were gone," Sam comments to himself before walking over to the computers. He checks the screens to make sure no guard was on their way back. Seeing that he was in the clear, Sam disables all of the cameras. That way if the footage is checked, no one would know which room was stolen from. Sam only saw one problem here - getting back into the vent. He could use the chair but might be a little too suspicious in case the guard remembered where he put the chair. His other option was jumping from the desk and onto the grate. That was the riskier of the two as it could be loud. He makes the decision of using the chair for now and then the desk on his way out. Sam then drags the chair under the grate and steps onto it. After climbing back into the vent, Sam gently closes the grate and makes his way back to where Nathan would be waiting for him.

Nathan waits at the grate for the display room. He had arrived just as a guard left. Deciding to double check that the timing was correct, Nathan starts the stopwatch function on his phone. Five minutes pass and Sam hadn't gotten back, but Nathan wasn't worried. He hears the faintest of thumps coming towards him when his stopwatch got close to ten minutes. Nathan glances over and holds a hand up to Sam, telling him that they were going to have to wait. Sam chills with Nathan in the vent and notices that Nathan taps his phone and the time was around 15 minutes and a guard had stepped in. The two brothers both sigh quietly as they were going to have to spend much longer in the museum than they wanted to. Once another 15 minutes pass by, the brothers get ready. Nathan quietly opens the grate as to not alert the guard that just left that someone was in the display room. He drops down and after rolling out of the way, Sam follows.

"Alright, let's hurry. I have a bad feeling that someone is going to return to the security room," Sam says as he walks over towards the display case. Nathan quickly pulls Sam back.

"Wait! There are lasers! See?" Nathan says, gesturing to the little pads in the corners that had very faint red dots on them.

"Shit. Good call. I'll step over them and you stay on this side," Sam says. He crouches first to see how high up and how far back the lasers were. Once he figured that out, Sam looks up to make sure there weren't any towards the top. Fortunately, there weren't any in the top. Stepping carefully over, Sam gets to the display case. It took a few more minutes to find the correct key to open the case. The older Drake pulls out the shield and hands it over to Nathan.

"Thank goodness no alarms went off with unlocking the case..." Nathan mutters as he takes the shield. He pulls the scroll out of the shield and double checks that it was going to be useful. He passes the shield back with a nod. Nathan tucks the scroll away as Sam puts the shield back and then swiftly locks the case back up.

"How much time we got?" Sam asks as he carefully steps back over the lasers.

"We got like seven minutes left," Nathan says as he walks over.

"That took eight minutes?" Sam asks, bewildered.

"Well we had to wait a few minutes to make sure the guard wouldn't hear, then we checked for lasers. It took you a few minutes to get the correct key. And then getting the scroll and coming back without leaving a trace added it all up to eight minutes. That was probably the quickest for all of that," Nathan explains as he boosts Sam up.

"Alright, fair," Sam says as he pulls Nathan up. "You lock that grate up and get out of here."

"That's the plan. See you outside," Nathan says as he closes the grate. The younger Drake makes his way through the vents. He was praying that for once, luck would be on his and Sam's side. Seeing his exit, Nathan crawls a little bit faster and then practically dives out of the vent and away from being seen.

Sam hurriedly makes his way to the security room again. He had estimated that the cameras had been off for a little bit more than half an hour. If the guards didn't come back in after half an hour then the security around this place is shit. After arriving at the security grate, he saw that everything was the same and knew for a fact that the security at this museum was indeed shit. He opens the grate up again, drops onto the chair and then returns the keys to their original spot. Sam made sure to return the chair to be in front of the computer before turning the cameras back on. He then notices another button and looks at it.

"Huh, wish I noticed that before... Would have saved some time..." Sam mutters. It was a button to turn the lasers on and off. Climbing onto the desk, Sam jumps to the grate and just starts climbing up, not caring how much noise he made. The sooner he was moving, the lesser chance of getting caught. He closes it and immediately heads on out. He finds the exit and hops out of it. He looks around for Nathan so they could close it. Sam almost yelped as he felt someone poke his sides. He turns and glares at Nathan.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. But just like you said all those years ago, gotta learn to watch your back," Nathan grins cheekily.

"Don't use my words against. Now close this grate," Sam says, rolling his eyes. He boosts Nathan up who closes the grate. After Nathan hops down, the two start booking it away from the museum and towards the motorcycle that Sam had rented while they were in London. After reaching the motorcycle and removing the gloves and in Sam's case, the beanie, the two brothers grin widely at each other for the very successful heist they had pulled off.

"Alright! Let's get back and figure out where we're going next!" Nathan says.

"Hell yeah little brother," Sam says, getting onto the bike and waiting for Nathan to get on. After Nathan gives him the go ahead, Sam peels off into the night, heading back to their hotel room. Only one person witnessed the heist and they smile, knowing their higher up would be glad to know of how successful the Drake brothers were.


	3. Riddles and Templars

The next morning had Nathan waking up early and with excitement. He takes a quick shower and after exiting, he sees Sam was still asleep. Deciding that wanting to look at the scroll was more important than Sam's beauty sleep, Nathan picks up his pillow. With a devious little grin, the younger Drake starts whacking the older Drake with said pillow. Sam was startled awake and almost fell out of his bed. Hearing laughter, he looks to his left and sees his younger brother laughing and holding a pillow. Sam grabs his own pillow before whipping it at Nathan's face in retaliation, catching Nathan off guard. More laughter emits from Nathan and Sam can't help but chuckle.

"Couldn't wait for me to wake up on my own little brother?" Sam asks as he gets out of bed.

"Nope! Besides, you were too tired after the adrenaline wore off. And you should be excited too!" Nathan says.

"Shush. Lemme go shower real quick, alright?" Sam says as he walks over to his bag to grab some fresh clothes.

"Just don't take too long or I'm going to look without you!"

"I'll kick your ass if you do!"

"Hah! I'd like to see you try!" Nathan quips as he goes to get the scroll. He picks up the yellowed scroll and inspects it closer as he walks over to the small table that was in the room. Upon closer inspection, Nathan noticed that there was a wax seal and that it had been broken, only for someone to attempt to reseal it. Nathan sets the scrolls on the table before walking back to the night stand and grabbing his journal he had for this adventure. Grabbing a pencil as well, Nathan goes back to the table and sits down. Flipping the journal open to a fresh page, the younger Drake moves the scroll closer to him and adjusts it so he could see the seal again. He didn't notice the bathroom door opening as he drew the insignia into his journal. When Sam walked over, he saw that Nathan was halfway through drawing the seal. The elder Drake quietly takes a seat next to his brother as to not disturb him. He speaks only when the pencil was put down.

"So, what did you discover while I was in the shower?" Sam asks curiously.

"Well, the seal aaaannnd the fact that the seal was broken and then someone attempted to reseal it," Nathan says. "Which means that someone might have already gotten to Crocea Mors but tried to hide that fact."

"You think the person who resealed it was trying to mess with others who might go after it?" Sam asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Possibly. I didn't think this would lead us right to Crocea Mors. That would be way to easy," Nathan answers.

"Fair enough. Anything too easy isn't real. But let's see what you drew there," Sam says, gesturing to the journal. Nathan slides the journal over to his brother.

"Recognize the insignia? It's similar to Prince Nennius's if I remember correctly, but that's not his," Nathan says as he plays with the scroll gently.

"Mmm.. I think this was his retainer's insignia, which means that Nennius's retainer saw the sword and smartly hid it. But why would he leave a scroll in Nennius's shield?" Sam says.

"Well, let's find out, shall we? Want to do the honors?" Nathan asks, holding the scroll out to Sam. Sam shakes his head.

"Nah. You can," Sam answers, pushing the scroll back towards Nathan. Nathan then shrugs and he carefully breaks the seal and unrolls the scroll. He lays it out as flat as he could in front of himself and Sam. In the middle of the scroll was black writing, fortunately in English and not Gaelic. It was clearly a riddle as it read:

 _Seek the land of Celtic Old,_

 _Beneath the roots a story unfolds._

 _A blade of gold shimmers bright,_

 _Taking life, left and right._

 _A'twixt the Man and the Tree,_

 _The Dead shriek out a plea._

 _Take our bane, under the ground,_

 _Past horrors that will be found._

 _Find the sword and all its might,_

 _For you, it is your right._

The brothers read it once, read it twice, read it thrice before looking at one another. They both knew that this riddle would lead them to where Crocea Mors was buried but first had to figure out where it all was.

"Well, that was nice of Nennius's retainer to give us a riddle," Sam says sarcastically.

"At least he didn't outright say it. If he had then we would have seen Crocea Mors more often in history if the wrong hands go it," Nathan counters.

"Fair," Sam concedes. He looks at the riddle again. "So the land of Celtic Old has to be Ireland and the sword is obviously Crocea Mors."

"A'twixt the Man and the Tree... I think the tree is the Celtic Tree of Life if I had to wager," Nathan adds on.

"Which means Man is the Green Man! But where the hell would we find both of those?"

"Well, maybe we need to find an old burial ground? After all, it says between the Green Man and the Tree of Life, the dead shriek out a plea and mentions how their bane is under ground."

"I would imagine that the bane is also the sword. So, you thinking something like Avery?"

"Probably not as intense as Avery, but yeah. An old cave maybe. Though I gotta wonder what the horrors are... I'm not looking forward to seeing zombies or wendigos or anything along those lines."

"From what you've told me, I do not envy you for having to deal with those."

"Thanks Sam. Real comforting. Anyways, after breakfast, why don't we research ancient Celtic burial grounds?"

"Works with me. Oh yeah, we should probably inform Victor about this. After all, we are officially on a big hunt now!"

"Right! Let's tell him over breakfast. Old man should be awake by now."

 **A few days later...**

Nathan, Sam and Sully were trekking through the hills of Ireland. Fortunately for them, there was no snow like there was in Scotland when they were searching for Avery's treasure. After all, it was April, the most pleasant month of the year. It was a nice 65 degrees Fahrenheit and partially cloudy. A gentle breeze blows over the three men as they made their trek. It had taken a few days of research for Nathan and Sam to find the correct burial ground and figure out how to get to the burial ground without too many issues. Of course, one of the issues the trio encountered was that there were two burial grounds that matched their description of ancient Celtic, Tree of Life, Green Man and a possible cave. The first site was a bust as the cave was not very deep. The only thing they found there were bats, stalagmites and stalactites. Upon their arrival to the second site, the three pause to take in the beauty and to catch their breath.

"Alright. Remember, we're looking for the Tree of Life and the Green Man," Nathan reminds the two older men.

"Yeah yeah kid. We might be old but our memories aren't that garbage," Sully comments.

"Hey, I'm not old enough to have memory issues yet. You might be though," Sam quips.

"Eeeh... I dunno Sam. Sometimes you forget what we are searching for when it comes to areas like these," Nathan says, grinning. Sam just gives him a bitch face. Sully snickers.

"I'm gonna kick your ass Nathan," Sam says.

"You said that the other day and have yet to do so!" Nathan comments.

"Alright smartass, get over here," Sam says, reaching out to grab Nathan who sidesteps the grab.

"Only if you can catch me!" Nathan says before speeding off, grinning like a child. Sam scowls playfully and takes off after his brother, giving into the childish behavior. Sully just watches with a smile. He was glad to see Nathan doing better since his divorce.

"Don't go killing each other or falling off cliffs!" Sully calls out as he pulls out his cigar to start smoking it.

"We won't!" came the chorused reply of the Drakes. Sully shakes his head and starts looking for the symbols while the brothers Drakes run around and laugh. A few times Sam almost grabs Nathan, only for the younger Drake to dodge out of his grasp at the last moment. The two run past Sully, almost running him over, causing the older man to have to almost throw himself out of the way. A loud "sorry!" was yelled to him. Sully chuckles and he continues his search. He finds the Tree of Life carved into the base of a large oak tree. Sully smiles and he starts looking for the Green Man. As Sam takes a turn following Nathan, he trips and tumbles forward and into Nathan, knocking them both down to the ground. Nathan yelped out in surprise as he tumbles the small hill with his brother before laughing. Sam was laughing as he rolls down the hill as well. Sully pauses his search when hearing Nathan yelp and lets out a small laugh seeing the brothers start tumbling down the hill. As he turns to the right to continue his search, he spots the Green Man etched into a large stone. He was certain he would have missed it if he didn't stop for a moment as the Green Man was very faded.

"HEY NATE! SAM! IF YOU TWO ARE DONE MESSING AROUND! I THINK I FOUND OUR PATH FORWARD!" Sully calls out. Nathan and Sam, who had been laughing as they lay at the bottom of the hill, immediately sit up. The two scramble up the hill and jog over to Sully.

"Really? You found the symbols already?" Nathan asks surprised.

"Well, I probably wouldn't have found our Green Man here if you two hadn't tumbled down the hill," Sully says. Sam peers at the Green Man.

"Yup that's our Green Man. Alright, where is the Tree of Life then?" Sam asks, looking at Sully. Sully only smiles and points to the kinda obvious and large oak tree.

"Son of a bitch. That makes so much sense that it would be on an oak tree! The tree at the other site was a holly tree!" Nathan says.

"Huh? Why does that make sense?" Sully asks, arching a grey eyebrow.

"The oak tree was considered the king of the forest due to its strength and longevity. It was considered the most sacred of trees by the Druids," Nathan explains.

"Druid is actually derived by the Celtic word Duir, which means oak," Sam adds on.

"Huh. You learn something new every day," Sully comments as he starts making his way closer to the oak tree. Nathan and Sam look around for a way down and for the cave. Being careful, Sam and Nathan approach the edge of the cliff that was between the large oak tree and boulder.

"Hey Nathan, Sully, I found a spot where we could grapple down!" Sam calls out. He loops his rope around a very thick and sturdy root that poked out over the edge. After it was secured, Sam carefully grapples down to the cave entrance. Once safely down, Sam hops off and calls out that he was safe. Sully came down next, being a little bit slower to be extra safe. Nathan was last and once down, he looks at Sam.

"Think we should leave it or take it?" Nathan asks.

"Mmm... I'm going to take it. Better safe than sorry. If I have to rope that root again, then I will," Sam says. He grabs the rope and gives it a few good tugs to loosen it from the root. After securing the rope back to his belt, Sam clicks on his flashlight as did Nathan and Sully who go into the cave. As the three venture deeper in the cave, they were all prepared for some sort of horror that might jump out at them. They were also hoping to find the sword and then be done but they all had a feeling that wouldn't be case. And that feeling was shortly confirmed as there were skeletons strewn along the floor of the cave as they got deeper in. There was also odd burn marks along the walls. They pushed forward and found the horrors that were spoken of in the riddle - traps that led to brutal deaths. They traveled for what seemed like a few hours.

"I think I know another horror that the riddle spoke of - insanity," Sully comments.

"Yeah probably since the further we get in, the more the skeletons seem to be of the same party but looking like they were fighting amongst each other," Nathan says.

"Well, let's hurry up then. I don't feel like wanting to strangle the two of you," Sam comments. The other two nod and they quicken their pace, already feeling the unnerving edge getting to them as they headed deeper. They had noticed a while back that this cave went down and the air was getting a lot cooler. Nathan stops when they reached an edge and he peers over, shining his light down.

"Well we finally reached the end... But the sword is DEFINITELY gone," Nathan says.

"As expected by all those skeletons and the weird burn marks. But lets see if a clue was left behind," Sam says.

"Yeah. Those skeletons in the beginning had different clothing and symbols than the ones closer to this cistern," Sully says. Nathan starts to carefully head down the narrow stone steps that were crudely carved into the wall.

"Let's just hope this isn't another bullshit pirate chase," Nathan comments.

"What's the worst that could happen? Ghost pirates?" Sam quips.

"That's exactly what could happen Sam. Ghost pirates," Nathan says, shooting him a look. Sully and Sam chuckle at Nathan's reaction. The trio make it down to the bottom of the cistern. They spread out searching for where the sword could have been and if there might be any clues the previous plunderer left behind. Nathan stops by an oddly shaped rock and an indent. He looks at it closer and notices the indent was in fact a slit that was big enough for blade to slide into and he snorts at the Excalibur reference. The younger Drake clips his flashlight to his belt and he pulls out his journal to make a quick sketch.

"Hey Nathan! I found something!" Sam calls out to his brother. He was crouching and had yet another scroll in his hand. It was tied with a simple string. In his other hand was an oddly colored stone with symbols engraved into them that he did not recognize. Nathan and Sully jog over and look at what Sam had.

"Huh. Another scroll. I wonder what it says," Nathan says.

"I say we open that scrolls somewhere other than here," Sully comments.

"Agreed. Do either of you recognize these symbols?" Sam asks, showing the stone. The other two men shake their head. With a shrug, Sam pockets the scroll and the stone and the trio make their way out of the cistern and back out of the cave. Since they knew where the traps were and the skeletons, the three lightly jogged through most of the cave to get out of there quicker. It wasn't until they got closer to the mouth of the cave when they heard voices. The three slow their pace a lot and cautiously head towards the voices. In front of them were two men in normal looking clothes, apart from the rather large red cross around their necks. The two new men notice the trio.

"Oi! You lot! Hand over what you have!" one of the men barked out, the Irish accent heavy on his words.

"Hand what over? We didn't find anything here!" Nathan immediately replies.

"Ah fuck. Americans. Stickin' their noses where they don't belong!" the other man grumbles out.

"Even if we did have something, what makes you think you can take it from us?" Sam asks.

"Because it's Irish property and belongs to Ireland. So hand it over!" the first man says, drawing a gun out. "Or I'll shoot!"

"Can't we come to an agreement? I bet you two are more businessmen than thugs," Sully says. However he got no answer as a third body came into view, but landed on the two men. The third body stands up and mutters something in a language unknown to the three Americans, a faint _schink_ of metal heard as well. The figure was wearing a hood and turns their gaze upon the three treasure hunters.

"Hello Nathan Drake, Samuel Drake and Victor Sullivan. We've been watching you."


	4. Enter the Assassins

"Who are you?" Nathan immediately asks. He narrows his eyes at the hooded figure, and takes a slightly defensive stance. He glances over at Sully and Sam and noticed that they, too, were in a defensive stance. Nathan watches as the cloaked figure put their hands up in a placating manner, showing that they meant no harm to the three Americans for now. The cloaked figure wore a long black hooded jacket that came to mid-shin but with a zipper that stopped a little ways below the waist. The hood had a beak that completely shrouded the face in shadow. The jacket had a few green bands on the arms and a green sash around the waist. Upon the left breast was a Tree of Life. The sleeves were big enough where something could be concealed within. Black pants and boots faintly peek out from under the jacket.

"My name is Arden Whelden. I am not here to harm you, assuming you are willing to work with me. In the words of Victor, you are more businessmen than thugs, yes?" the figure, now named Arden answers. There was an Irish lilt to Arden's words.

"We can be, as long as you don't try to kill us," Sam comments. Arden chuckles.

"I can assure you that as long as you are not working with the Templars, you are safe from my people," Arden says pleasantly.

"Templars? You mean those crazy old bastards with the tin hats?" Sully asks, arching an eyebrow. Arden shakes their hooded head.

"No, not by a long shot. If you will come with me, I will explain everything that you need to know and why we've been watching you," Arden says.

"Before we follow you, can you uh show us your face?" Nathan asks.

"Ah, my apologies, of course," Arden says. They reach up and pull off the hood, revealing an androgynous, pale face with dark, navy blue eyes. Their hair was a platinum blonde, shaved on the left side. The remaining hair swoops over to the right and comes to about mid-neck. There was a faint scar going down and over Arden's lips on the right side. "Better?"

"Yeah, slightly. But I guess we have no choice but to follow you, right?" Nathan asks.

"Precisely," Arden answers before pulling their hood back up and obscuring their face. They leave the cave and motion for the three men to follow. The now party of four leaves the cave and makes their way back to the top of the cliff and into the burial ground. Arden leads the three out of the burial ground and to where Nathan had parked their rental jeep. There was another jeep and a motorcycle parked some feet behind the rental jeep. Sully hops into the passenger side, Sam in the back and Nathan into the driver's seat as was the usual setup. Arden goes to their bike and hops on. Once Nathan gave a thumbs up to Arden, the Assassin takes off and away. Nathan followed Arden back towards civilization, which took a few hours to get back to but it wasn't too hard to follow since there was really only one way. It was once they hit civilization that Nathan had to pay closer to attention to the turns that Arden took. Fortunately for him, Arden had slowed down enough so that Nathan could follow. Both he and Sam noticed that Arden still went fast and seemed to take an interesting way as if to keep the location hard to find. Eventually as night started to fall, Arden slows down outside a tower that seemed slightly distanced away from the nearest town. They wait for the Americans to park and hop out before granting them access.

"This is quite out of the way," Sam comments to Arden as he enters.

"Well, we are a secretive bunch and don't want the Templars to find us," Arden answers. As they enter last, they take their hood down and three much younger figures appear and bow to them.

"Grandmaster Arden! Welcome back! I see my information was not false!" says the middle figure, a British accent peaking through.

"Yes. Good job Willard. I have no missions for you three," Arden says to the three who bow again and run off. Arden motions the three to their private study and walks over to their cabinet. "Whiskey or Scotch?"

"Scotch on the rocks," Sully says as he takes a seat at the table in the center.

"Whiskey on the rocks," Sam says, sitting.

"Same as Sam," Nathan answers and he sits. Arden nods. They pull down four rock glasses, putting two ice cubes in three of them. Two glasses get Tullamore Dew whiskey and the other two get Aberlour scotch. Arden puts the rock glasses on a tray and walks over, giving the glasses out before sitting down themselves. They hold up their glass.

"Sláinte!" Arden says before taking a drink from their glass. The other three follow suit.

"So, Grandmaster? Grandmaster of what?" Sam asks, looking at Arden.

"Assassins. We protect the people and their free will to obtain peace. The Templars wish to obtain peace by controlling the people and only allowing a select few to have control. We do not harm the innocent. It is against our Creed. Templars and Assassins have been at war for the longest of times. It has not ended. Major victories on both sides yes but never an end," Arden answers.

"Why were you following us?" Nathan asks.

"Shortly after Nennius's body was found, we knew it would be a race to find Crocea Mors. Crocea Mors is not the weapon you think it is. It is what we call a Piece of Eden. These Pieces were crafted to control mankind and use them as slave labor by a people called the Isu. The Isu were the humanoid beings before us. They created us. However, as we evolved, we rebelled against them and the Isu slowly went extinct. When Willard had gone to investigate Nennius's body, he overheard you two planning to break in. After he reported that you two were going to steal the scroll in the shield, I told him to watch you and make sure that one, you two were reliable and two, to figure out where you would be heading. While Willard spied on you, I used my resources to do some digging on you two and found out that having a Drake against you is not a good idea," Arden explains. They take a sip of their scotch. Nathan and Sam couldn't help but grin a bit upon hearing that last sentence.

"So what do you know about Crocea Mors that neither of these two were able to discover? Also, do you mind if I smoke a cigar in here?" Sully asks.

"You may smoke your cigar," Arden answers.

"Thanks," Sully says. He pulls it out and once he started smoking, he gestured for Arden to continue their story.

"Since until now you didn't know what a Piece of Eden was, you would not have known that Crocea Mors is one of two Swords of Eden. The swords have latent and active powers. The latent powers are granting high charisma and leadership, along with the ability to negate illusions," Arden starts.

"That explains Julius Caesar. He was a very charismatic leader and loved by many," Sam interrupts.

"Correct. As for the active powers, these are far more dangerous. The swords granted echolocation of opponents, alongside instant translocation. Deadly combination there as once you know where an enemy is, you could appear there and strike them down. But the most dangerous part of these swords were the energy blasts that one could send out in a wave," Arden adds on.

"That explains the weird burn marks we saw in the cave. The more I hear about all of this, the more I'm ready to believe all of this. It seems so crazy but it makes so much sense," Nathan says.

"I'll agree with you there kid," Sully says, tipping his glass to Nathan.

"So. Now that you've told us everything we need to know I assume, what do you want from us and what do we get from you in return?" Sam asks, still suspicious of the Assassin.

"What we want from you is to help us find Crocea Mors. After Crocea Mors is found, the Assassin Brotherhood will keep it safe. In return we will pay you handsomely for the help. We will also have Assassins follow you to keep you safe from the Templars," Arden says.

"Can we have a moment to discuss specifics?" Sam asks. He gets a nod and the Assassin gets up and moves further into the private study. Once he was certain Arden was out of earshot, Sam leans forward. "Alright, I know you two seem on board with all of this, but I'm still suspicious about all of this."

"Sam, come on. Arden hasn't harmed us yet!" Nathan says. He kept his voice low.

"Keyword yet Nathan!" Sam hisses.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I think we should get a down payment for our troubles. Enough to get us out of the Isles and have a decent amount left over in case we need to back out," Sully says.

"Good idea Victor. I also think that to keep an eye on Arden, we ask him to be one of the Assassins that will be with us. ALSO, he stays around us basically 24/7 so we can keep a better eye on him," Sam says, assuming that Arden was male.

"If that will convince you to agree, then sure. Though you think Arden's a he?" Nathan says.

"To be fair, it's hard to tell," Sully points out. "But, shall we call our currently friendly Grandmaster Assassin over?"

"Yeah," Sam says. "Arden! We're all set!" he calls out. The blonde Assassin walks back over and sits down.

"So, what have you decide on?" Arden pleasantly asks.

"We'll agree on two conditions - We get a down payment now that will give us enough to get out of the Isles and have a decent amount left over, should we decide to back out," the younger Drake starts out.

"And, we want you to be the Assassin that follows us around," The older Drake says. Arden blinks.

"You do realize that since I am Grandmaster, you will have to be around me 24/7, yes?" Arden asks, wanting to clarify what Sam was asking of them.

"Yup. Unlike Victor and Nathan, I don't trust you completely yet. You're a suspicious man Arden," Sam says, arms folding over his chest. A chuckle emits from Arden.

"Fair enough. But I will inform you that I am not a man. Technically I am female but I would prefer if you use the they/them/their pronouns. Agender and all that," Arden states.

"Oh, uh sor-" Sam starts out, only to be stopped by a hand being held up.

"No need to apologize. You did not know. I simply ask that you try is all. However, I will agree to your terms," Arden says. They knock back the remaining dregs of their scotch before standing up. They walk over to their safe and open it up. After grabbing three small pouches, they fill each with a decent roll of Euros. Walking back over to the three Americans, they toss each man a pouch.

"How much is in here?" Sully asks, open the pouch and looking inside.

"Approximately 100,000 American dollars worth in Euros," Arden says. Nathan makes a slightly choked noise.

"Thank you. That's really generous of you," the youngest male says.

"Like I said. We will reward you handsomely for your help. And before you ask how can we afford this, you don't want to know," Arden says, seeing the question about to fall from Sam's lips.

"Alright, I guess I can ask my next question then. Where will we be staying?" Sam asks.

"Since you want me to be the Assassin that watches you three, you will have the guest rooms right outside my personal room. I usually reserve those for any family member that decides to visit but you may have the privilege. Two are connected to my room, so I ask that you knock before opening those doors," Arden says. The Americans knock back the remaining alcohol and follow the Grandmaster to their temporary rooms. Arden's room was in a small hall way that had seven doors, three on the sides and one at the end. On the right was theirs in the middle, two guest rooms on either side. On the left side, the third guest room was across from Arden's room, the other two doors leading to fully functioning bathrooms. The door at the very end was a supply/linen closet. Sully took the room across from Arden, Nathan to the left and Sam to the right.

"Well, goodnight everyone, see you in the morning," Sully says, starting to enter his room.

"Goodnight. You will find spare clothes in the rooms if you need them," Arden states. Afterwards, they get a goodnight from the brothers Drake. Everyone settles down in their rooms and gets ready for bed and a much needed sleep.


End file.
